Brush

Several homes were briefly evacuated Sunday when a brush fire that started in a nearby neighborhood charred a roughly two-acre hillside near Forest Lawn in Glendale, officials said. The fire broke out about 11:30 a.m. in the Adams Hills neighborhood southeast of Forest Lawn, said Brandy Villanueva of the Glendale Fire Department. The blaze was knocked down by 1:10 p.m. No injuries were reported. The cause is still under investigation, she said. "During the fire fight we did evacuate 10 homes, but those evacuation orders have been lifted," she said.

CAIRO - Egypt on Saturday sharply rejected a prominent human rights group's criticism of two tough new draft anti-terror laws. The measures, which have yet to be signed into law by interim President Adly Mansour, so sweepingly define terrorism that almost any sort of political activism, however peaceful, could result in prosecution, Amnesty International said in a statement issued Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty dismissed the London-based group's criticism, characterizing it as meddling in Egypt's affairs.

The Powerhouse fire has a dance all its own, and firefighters have struggled to keep up with the flames. When it started Thursday, the fire threatened Green Valley in San Francisquito Canyon. Then it veered west toward Castaic Lake before speeding toward Elizabeth Lake and Lake Hughes, almost overrunning the towns. More recently, it has moved north into the Lancaster area. The fire was pushed by hot winds but also fed by a potent combination of dense chaparral - some of which hasn't burned since 1929 - and highly flammable grasses.

A brush fire broke out in Gorman on Friday afternoon. Fire officials say it is threatening some structures. The 30-acre Pine fire is burning south of California 138 near Quail Lake. The California Highway Patrol shut down the Old Ridge Route south of the highway "due to heavy fire" and urged people to avoid the area, according to tweets from @CHPSouthern. Authorities initially said they would evacuate some people in the area, but shortly before 2:30 p.m. decided that no evacuations were necessary "at this time," according to Los Angeles County fire officials.

Firefighters continue to make progress on containing a roughly 50-acre fire burning in an unincorporated area of southeast Orange County. Containment of the fire near the edge of the Cleveland National Forest had increased to 40% Monday morning, officials reported. Earlier in the day, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said at least one firefighter had suffered minor injuries and one building was damaged. The fire started about 10:10 a.m. Sunday in a large mulch pile at a nursery in the 27900 block of Baker Canyon Road.

TUCSON - The Arizona city of Yarnell and its subdivision of Glen Ilah were not prepared for a wildfire like the inferno this month that claimed the lives of 19 elite firefighters, scorched 8,400 acres and destroyed more than 100 homes, according to a report released this week by a research group. Using satellite images and mapping software, researchers at the Pacific Biodiversity Institute found that most of the 569 buildings in Yarnell did not have proper buffer zones - areas sufficiently cleared of chaparral, shrubs and trees.

A brush fire that began Tuesday near Magic Mountain spread to 25 acres in 40 minutes because of gusty winds, according to Los Angeles County firefighters. The blaze began before 11:30 a.m. with gusts carrying embers away from the origin and igniting more fuel. Two Los Angeles County water-dropping helicopters were fighting the flames and a fixed-wing craft from the Los Angeles Fire Department was en route, officials said. More than 190 firefighters were at the scene and no structures were threatened, officials said.

A brush fire burning near the Santa Susana pass in the Simi Valley area was 20% contained Thursday morning, but crews will still have to contend with strong winds and dry conditions in order to finish putting out the flames. The fire broke out Thursday evening near Lilac Lane and Santa Susana Pass Road, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department were called to help at around 10:40 p.m., but they have since returned, said Katherine Main of the department. The Sheriff's Department said full containment of the fire is expected by 6 p.m. Thursday and that some road closures were still in effect including: Santa Susana Pass Road between Box Canyon and Rocky Peak roads and the Rocky Peak Road exits from the 118 Freeway are closed in both directions.

A lack of rain this season has produced incredible dry conditions that have firefighters on alert for brush fires. Current forecasts call for two weeks of warming temperatures and gusty offshore winds. L.A. fire Capt. Jamie Moore said an aerial inspection of the city last week provided a sobering picture of just how dry the landscape has become. "It is alarming how much the brush has grown since last season," he said. "We have a lot of dry underbrush. We have 20- or 30-foot-tall trees with brush and undergrowth.

Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis published Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The report noted that a separate study estimated that the number of early humans may have fallen as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again.

Oscar's animated feature race is a clash of the major Hollywood studios this year, with Disney, Fox/DreamWorks and Universal/Illumination all contending. But one movie in the mix -- a French-Belgian production about the unlikely friendship between a mouse and a bear -- is the sort that is alien to the high-stakes U.S. animation industry. Made with hand-painted watercolor backgrounds and a modest $12-million price tag, "Ernest & Celestine," which U.S. distributor GKIDS will release in Los Angeles on Friday, is based on a whimsical series of children's books by reclusive Brussels-born author Gabrielle Vincent.

Several homes were briefly evacuated Sunday when a brush fire that started in a nearby neighborhood charred a roughly two-acre hillside near Forest Lawn in Glendale, officials said. The fire broke out about 11:30 a.m. in the Adams Hills neighborhood southeast of Forest Lawn, said Brandy Villanueva of the Glendale Fire Department. The blaze was knocked down by 1:10 p.m. No injuries were reported. The cause is still under investigation, she said. "During the fire fight we did evacuate 10 homes, but those evacuation orders have been lifted," she said.

A fast-moving wildfire in the hills above Glendora burned at least 1,700 acres of withered brush and five homes Thursday, and sent a smoky pall over much of the Los Angeles Basin -- the likely harbinger of a rare winter fire season sparked by the driest conditions on record. Weather officials had been warning about the fire danger for months, capped by a January that has had the windy, nosebleed feel of October. The native chaparral that burns so easily in normal circumstances was parched and ready to combust.

About five dozen firefighters have been dispatched to a brush fire that broke out in the hills above Glendora near the edge of the Angeles National Forest early Thursday morning. The fire started just before 6 a.m. near the intersection of Glendora Mountain Road and Colby Trail Motorway, said Miguel Ornelas of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Ornelas said that although the blaze was technically in Glendora, forest crews were also joining in the fight. UPDATE: 3 people in custody in connection with wildfire There was no immediate estimate of the size of the fire or when crews might have it under control. The fire comes as the National Weather Service extended red flag warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until 3 p.m. Friday with extremely low humidity worsening already tinder-dry conditions. The circumstances are such that if a fire were to ignite, "there could be rapid spread of wildfire," the weather service warned Thursday.

A brush fire near Pyramid Lake was contained Thursday before resources from the much larger Colby fire burning above Glendora had to be used, authorities said. The Pyramid Lake fire, reported at about 11:06 a.m., was burning near the intersection of the northbound 5 Freeway and Highway 138, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Tony Akins said. After callers reported smoke in the area, crews soon discovered a trailer that was well-involved in fire that had spread to neighboring brush, but that had only burned less than a half-acre, officials said.

Traffic on Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades was snarled Tuesday afternoon as firefighters battled a brush fire in the dry hillsides overlooking the Pacific. About 150 firefighters were attacking the blaze near Chataqua Boulevard and Channel Road, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. About two acres had been scorched. Northbound lanes on PCH were closed in the area, backing up traffic, officials said. Southbound traffic was snarled as flames burned into the sky and smoke drifted across the ocean.

Thanks for publishing the poem "Aerial Photos of the Plains" by James Krusoe (Nov. 3). The poem did not contain a comma, not even a period, but it pushed other modern poets into the background. I've often tried to understand "modern poetry," but Krusoe, the artist with no brush, has made a believer out of me. Poetry can be understood and enjoyed!!! A.M. FOSTER, NORTH HOLLYWOOD

Re "High Court Limits Who Is Disabled," Jan. 9: It is difficult to believe that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has any understanding of the word "hardship." For that matter, it's difficult to believe that any of the nine justices understand anything about hardship. Most of us ordinary people easily see how someone could have the ability to brush his or her teeth for a few minutes with one hand and yet not have the strength to stand on an assembly line for eight hours holding a five-pound wrench, tightening bolts all day with that same hand.

Firefighters are responding to a 2-acre brush fire along the 405 Freeway in Mission Hills. The blaze was reported about 1:51 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said in a statement. The blaze was burning along the northbound 405 at Devonshire Street, not far from the intersection of the 405 and 118 Freeways. It sent a large plume of black smoke into the air, according to several photos posted by observers on Twitter. Some lanes of the northbound 405 between Devonshire and Chatsworth streets were closed as firefighters battled the blaze, the California Highway Patrol said.